Axis Order
The Axis Order "Do not tell anyone what you saw here. Not of this building, not of this world. And most defenitly not about this map. What we have found here is perhaps the most important dicovery of our Order, perhaps even our galaxy. If this map is correct, whe might finally be able to achiev the ancient dream of our oldest ancestors. There is truly no greater joy than to see this dream fulfilled in our lifetime, and no greater duty than to make sure this dream becomes reaity. So safeguard this knowledge, take it into your grave if you must." ~ Captain Marek Johnson, talking to his subordinates about their discovery on earth. Taking to the stars in 2171, the Axis Order(later also known as Divine Axis Empire and Empire of Man) had established a small spacefaring empire when they meet the militaristc Bench Press Empire in 2221. Unprepared and overwhelmed by the BPE forces, the Axis Order was unable to defend itself against the onslought and had to give up their frontier systems. The war, especially the terrific massacre of Yun-Yun, traumatized the Order and significantly shaped their development for the rest of the century. Now believing that only power was able to achieve the goals they strifed for, the Order adopted a new militaristic stance to secure its interest. The Order also begann to expand eastwards, colonizing new systems and entering into an Alliance with other empires, which would later form the Enlightened Covenant. After defeating the Bench Press Empire in the crussade, the Axis Order rose to become the dominant power of the region, welcoming the 23th century as a golden era for the Covenant and the Order. The 23th century was, for the most part, an era in which the Axis Order returned to an passive stance and mainly focused on achieving their orignal goal of finding the Supreme Ones. Of course they still aided the Covenant in spreading its influence and it continued to wage war against the Eris Order. But it was also during this time of Axis supriority that a new rival in the form of the Leftern Block arose. This rivalary drained the Axis Economy, forcing them to heavily invest into the military because of the insuing arms race. To make matters worse the Andomeda crisis threw the entire galaxy and especially the covenant into disaray. At the beginning of the 24th century the future of the Axis Order was uncertain and the Hot war devistated the Order and the entire Covenant. More than a few people believed that the Age of the Axis Order was over. This might have been true if it wasn´t for the discovery of the Pearl. With the transformation of the Axis Order into a divine Empire under the controll of their new God-Empress Aqua and their psionic trancendency the Axis Order managed to not only avoid total collapse, but also to save the entire Covenant and return to the position of one of the galactic superpowers. However they had no time to cellebrate the succesfull managing of the crisis, as the power of the Leftern Block continued to grow and their old enemy, the BPE skyrocketet to the top 10 powers in the galaxy. Going from one crisis into the next, the greatest armsrace known to galaxy begann and culminated in the Escalation War in 2470. As the tides of war turned to the favor of the Leftern Block once more both parties were forced to form an armistice because TOM suddenly begann to expand and threatened the entire galaxy. After TOM´s expansion had been contained by the Galactic Commonwealth, the Axis Order entered the next century in a rather violent manor. Fueled by hatred against the Block, the desire to compete in the race for the Core and their holy mission to unify the "Children of Man", they used the power of their new Colossus to wage a second Escalation War, conquering both the Axel and Eris Order. This lead to the creation of the Empire of Man. After the crisis ridden 24th century the Covenant under the Leadership of the Empire once again begann to spread ist influnce. Their Expansion towards the east resulted in a new conflict with the teachers Entante aswell as a new civil war in the form of the Unfied Resistance rising up against what they called "an oppresive autocracy, not valuing the lifes of ist citizens. The Resistance was eventually put down, however their leaders manged to ecape and go into hiding. Tensions were high in the galaxy, and if it werent for the core war functioning as a veil for all the Tension the galaxy would surely be swallowed by allout war, even if many diplomats tried their best to prevent this from Happening. History The first archeological evidence of Axis civilisation can be dated back to 15.000 B.R. . As these early signs of civilisation are to advanced and seemingly skipped mutliple steps of evolution it is believed that the Axis Cultists originated from another world and suddenly arrived on Alcanrentia some 17.000 years ago. Conquest of Alcanrentia (~15.000 B.R.) The first 10.000 years after the arrival the Axis Cultists lived in simple and primitive settlement. During this period they would eventually colonize all of Alcanrentia from their place of arival, today known as the Mizu continent. Only very few things are known about this period, as technology progressed slowly. Early Axis Kingdoms (~5.000 B.R.) At around this time first written records have been discovered. Different kinds of Axis culture began to emerge and hundreds of smaller kingdoms poped up all over Alcanrentia. Caught in a series of seemingly neverending wars those small kingdoms battled each other over ressources and religious differences. The most imporatant figures of this time and even today still heroes of Axis culture are High King Avalor and Prophet Jerenum. After Jerenum, a local priest in the vacinity of the then small Mizu Kingdom, wrote done his visions and published them in his book Konosuba in 340 B.R., the young prince Avalor made it his task to spread his teachings and to unify all Axis Cultist under one banner. While he managed to conquer all of Mizu, Alcanrentias main continent, he would not see the end of his dream. In the following centuries his succesors would continue to wage war against all other continents. However, despite all of Alcanrentia finally being united under one single faith after centuries of war, this peace wouldnt last for long. The royal bloodline of Avalor has become so unclear that several dozens of people declared themselves to be the next High King after the High King Remaan died without a clear succesor in 456 A.R. Beginning of the Order (~1.300 A.R.) The century long civil war that threw Alcanrentia into chaos and bloodshed once again finally ended in 1363 when the Last Queen finally conquered all of the ursurper kingdoms and proclaimed herself the new Empress of Alcanrentia. Having seen the bloodshed a royal bloodline can cause she remained unmarried for her entire life to make sure there is no one who could succeed her by claiming to have the same blood. Then she established the system of electing the High Priest, a custom by wich the Axis Order abieded for the rest of its existance as government. Now unified, Alcanrentia entered a peacefull age of prosperity and progress until finally achieving space flight in 2078. Modern History (~2.000 A.R.) Without internal conflict the Axis Order progressed peacefully until they invented hyperdrive in 2179. In 2189, shortly after the Order finished the construction of space based mining stations as well as the permanently habitable Aqua Star Base, for the first time in over 80 years the Axis Orders only internal threat, a radical organization known as the Pure Ones, stiked again. However they were quickly dealt with and their leader and his remaining diciples escaped upon their experimantal battleship. After this some voices became loud wanting a stronger military presence, but they were mostly ignored. And so the Axis Order expanded peacefully untill discovering the Bench Press Empire in 2221. Biology General Physicality There are no real distinctions between members of the Axis Cultist race. While things like hair colour, skin colour or height might differ, these do not affect their physicality overall and thus the Axis Order does not differentiate between the different phenotypes. The Axis Cultists originate from the ocean world Alcanrentia and as such prefer planets with a high amount of water on its surface. However they can also adopt to different climates rather well, making them the most widespread race within the Covenant and beyond. Axis Cultist can be found in almost every part of the Galaxy, driven by their desire to spread their faith to the stars. Physically they are fairly average. Many other races would be able to defeat an Axis Cultist in a 1 on 1 brawl as they are neither big nor strong or posess other traits of physicall prowess. Despite this, Axis Cultists are known for their incredible endurance. While they lose in strenght comparrison, most other races would lose to them in terms of stamina. The Axis Cultist perceverance is known througout the Galaxy. This enables them to fight even in extremely hostile situations like the glassing of Yun-Yun or on the Stronghold of Tears. With the help of modern technology Axis Cultists can easily live up to 100 years of age, some individuals even became as old as 150 years. However between 70-80 years of age Axis Cultists usually become unfit for physical work, with health related problems often arriving even before that age. In terms of intelligence the Axis Cultist are quite good, but still pale in comparrison to some of the smarter races of the galaxy. Genders and Procreation Axis Cultist have like most races two genders. Woman are usually physically weaker and less agressive and are the ones giving birth. Men are seen as the more expandable but physically stronger gender to perform dangerous and hard tasks. However, gender differeneces of Axis Cultists are not as big as in some other races, leading to a rather unisexual culture where for examples woman in military or leadership position is seen as the norm. Axis Cultist can reproduce at a speed of around 1 child per year. The normal Axis family has somewhere between 3-6 children, depending on the will of the mother. Childless couples are rather rare, but this is more of a cultural phenomenon. Axis Cultists need 18 years to achieve maturity, allthough it is not too uncommon for Axis Cultists to become soldiers, workers or mothers at the age of 16 or even below. Psyonic Abilities Axis Cultist are among the few races of the galaxy that have achieved spiritual transcendance and arguably the strongest one. This has lead to a general higher rate of hapiness and unity between all Axis Cultist and also enabled them to do some incredible things. Powerfull psyonics that for example can use their powers to counter their physical inferiority are however quite rare, most Axis Cultist only passivly take part in their psyonic power. It is believed that only 1% of Axis Cultist are latent Psyonics. Culture Family & Children Families and expecially mothers have a high standing within Axis society. As the Church and Government are constantly promoting child birth and procreation as neccesary duty for the Order and even as a form of worship, the birth rate within the Axis Order is quite high. Children are seen as the future of the Order and the next generation of worshippers, as such the Axis Order puts a lot of effort into educating and properly raising the children. Because woman are an essential part of the work force within the Axis Order, mothers are allowed to stay at home and care for their children. However, most mothers return to work after a few years and leave their offsprings in the care of state care centers, where their kids are being cared for and educated. Axis Order care centers are among the galaxies best. Day to Day life Worship plays a key role in Axis society. Children are being religiously educated from an early age and religious holidays or events are celebrated across the entire Order. After religion, the military is the next most important institution withis the Axis Order. After their terrible defeat in the first contact war the military has significantly increased its influencea and turned the Axis Order into an incredibly militarised society. Due to their believes that everyone has a purpose and has to sacrifice himself for the Order if need be, Axis Cultist not only live in a harmonious and hardworking society, they also display a terrifying amount of tenacity when defending their territory of enforcing their religious doctrines. Axis Cultsist are known to work under extreme conditions with very few compenation for years on end when the Order is in a war, enabling the Government to redirect massive amounts of ressources to the front lines if need be. Not only are the Axis Cultist a widespread race in the galaxy, they also host a lot of other races on their worlds. With the spreading of the Axis Faith throughout the galaxy, more and more civilians seek to live in the Order under the divine mandat of Aqua. The harmonious ideals and the strong military presence on most colonies makes conflict or unrest almost unheard of. The Axis Order is an incredible wellfare state. Being one of the largest economies in the galaxy, they direct massive founds towards infrastructure, education and healthcare. Living a harmonious life is the highest ideal in the Axis Order and as such the weelbeing and happiness of its citizens is a top priority. With the Order having withstood many crisis and secured a top position in the galactic ranking, many parts of Axis society have returned to thier once peacefull lifestyle, perhaps too peacefull as some critics say. Example of Architecture Axis Architecture is among the galaxies fanciest and prettiest and its temples and religious buildings are considered the most beautifull in the galaxy. Examples of modern Axis Order Culture Government Type The entire Axis order is based around the state belief of Aqua. All political powers lies with the High Priest and the Elevated Council of Archpriests. Colonial matters are usually handled by the local Archpiests and Governors. The military, which also developed enorm power within the Order, is under the the direct command of the High Priest. With the return of Aqua the Axis Order became a monarchy and turned totally authoritarian. Leader While it is possible for every Axis Cultists to become High Priest and some great leaders did in fact originate from a common background, most High Priests where already born into infuencial families, often those of priests. However it is not forbidden but highly uncommon for Arch- and High priests to have legal children who could succed them, following the ancient doctrine of the first queen. This has prevented the title of High Priest of falling into the hands of a single family. The High Priest is elected following the death of the previous one by the Elevated Coucil and holds this title until his death or until he voluntary gives up the title and retires. Reformed Government After Aqua became the God-empress of the Axis Order the title of High Priest was abolished and all power was unified and put under the Control of the Goddess. The Power of Aqua exeeds that of any other leader, even the extremly authoritarian Polkmaster. She is not restricted by any constitution or laws and theoreticly owns the Covenant Core states as private property. Critique The Axis Order has often been called a dictatorship by other empires who disliked their undemocratic government and values. However it was not until after the Axis Order turned into a monarchy and the last remains of seperated power disapeared that democratic idealist nations became wary, even more so than with the Polkanian Empire. Another often metioned point of critique is the disregard for foreign souvereignity and religions the Axis Order has displayed, by for example infiltrating and capuring religious leaders of other empires or banning other faiths in the Covenant while demanding their believes are allowed everywhere. Also there is the Genocide against the Eris Order whichn the Axis Order openly declares to be a core part of its agenda. Military General At the height of its power from 2340-2386 the Axis Order military could easily be called the best in the galaxy. However after the Andromeda panic and the following wars and crises the Axis Order along with the entire Enlightened Covenant sprilaled down into economic depression, technological stagnation, military incompetence and civil unrest. It was a miracle that the didn´t completely collapse, a miracle for which the new Axis Order God-Empress Aqua is in great part responsible for. After leading the Coveanant through half a century of devastastation, in the 2420´s Aqua also begann a succesfull rebiulding of the Covenant Forces, especially the Axis Order military. At the time of the Escalation war the Covenant Forces were already formidable enough to withstand the onslought of the Leftern Block, a deed only few believed was possible. The main military race of the Covenant are the Axis cultists, with the Axis Order also owning the largest army. Military is highly valued within the Order, but not to a degree on part with for example the BPE. Military service is considered one of the highest forms of worship within the Axis Order, as such every Axis Cultists has to undergo 5 years of state service between 16-25 years of age. Most Cultsist choose to undergo the basic military training, but alternativly one can also work in the alloy foundries, research assisatant or one of many other proffesions that are part of the military. Because of the manadatory military service the Axis Order has a giant pool of militarized citizens it can quickly use to bolster its forces in case of war. Numbers Hosting the largest fleet in the Coveant and the third largest in the Galactic Commonwealth, the Axis Fleet has an estiamted power of 481K and 18.260 Billion military personal, out of which around 3.5 Billion are offensive armies. Their Fleet composition is quite balanced in technology and ship variety. The Axis Order Fleets are split into 7 different fleets: Technology The Axis Order Fleets are quite technologically advanced. Due to them constanly being upgraded all of the Axis ships are in a comparable state. Their large amount of capital ships is a remnant of Ashua Nutrez armsrace policy before the escalation war, their giant armada of Corvettes has been created by his succesor Zermon Matros during the escalation war itself. Also due to Zermon´s reforms most Axis Ships are equiped with additional thrusters, making them quick to move and the Axis Armada one of the fastest fleets in the galaxy. Their Fleets are used for a multitude of tasks, in contrats to empires such as Carsten Stahl, whose fleets only purpose is to defeat TOM ships. Axis ships ofen have large ground forces inside them that are used to either board ships or land troops on enemy territory without having to wait for the slower and weakly defended transport ships. However this can lead to negative effects on their fighting strenght in space combat as room that could be used for more weapons or shild capacitators is wasted. So while the ship standard is quite versitily, Axis Ships can quickly be upgraded to dramatically increase their strenght for an immediate task, due to their standardized and easy to modify ship building style. However this also means that it is easy for enemies to identify Axis ships weaknesses as all their ships are build the same way. Physics research was always the weakest part of the Covenant scientific progress. Because of this many ships even today have adopted ways to work around their deficits that are still used today even after the Schlong integration dramatically boosted their physics research. For example are Axis Corvettes equiped with Rockets instead of Lasers like most other empires. They also abbandoned standard shields in favour of Psyoinic barriers which have been discovered due to their great progress in society research. This also means that on every Axis Ship several powerfull psyonics must be present, which is partly responsible for the manadtory drafting of powerfull psyoinics within the Order. It is rumored that the Axis Order is currently constructing a great Flagship that could easily outmatch any Titan and even jump through space due to a powerfull psyoinic jumpdrive. However it would still take years until a Ship of the size its rumored to be could be build, even with that Axis Order focusing most of their ressources on it. Ground Forces Like their fleets the Axis Order military is based upon kinetic projectile weapons. To compensate for their physical weakness when compared to some other races they use a multitude of vehicles for both ground and air combat to overwhelm their enemies. Like most races of the Covenant their equipment is mostly produced by the Schwebtrons, with them using the Axis Order modification to best fit their biology. With the Schwebtrons being among the top developers and producers in military affairs and additional weapons provided by the Order itself as well as the highly competent military leadership in combination with the Axis Cultists tenacity in battle they are truly a force to be reckoned with. One of the few realms within the EC where Schwebtron Manufactoring has no influence on are the Axis Order elite units. While the so called "Battle Angels" become obsolete in battle after their psyonic awakening and now only serve as a part of the Inquisition, the new Axis Elites are all very powerfull psyonic warriors. They do not report to the military but only to the Goddess herself, as they are more warrior monks than soldiers. There are many knight orders spread across all worlds of the Covenant and beyond, however only the most skilled are allowed to join the elite forces known as the Knights of Aqua. They are divided into many different special branches with a multitude of ranks, however the Axis Harbringers are the absolutely most powerfull psyonic warriors in the galaxy and the Axis Elite. Many Harbringers or those who had potential to become one have died, either due to the wars or other catastrophies like the Hertoz Incident, in which eighty Harbringers found their demise. Today their number is sad to have recovered beyond one hundred. Psyonic The Psyonic Trancendance of the Axis Order has changed also its military. Besides adopting shroud based technology such as psyonic shields or the divine enforcer their basic combat skill aslo has increased. Telepathy allows small squads to operate extremely efficient and without the danger of being wiretapped. Also every Axis Fleet flagship is equiped with a powerfull messenger who is able to recieve direct commands from Aqua without dying like a normal Cultist would. As such the fleets can recieve direct uninterceptable messenges in an instant, allowing for much faster movement. After recieving an Order a Messenger is usually out of action for at least one month due to the heavy strain it puts on his body and mind. More powerfull Axis Soldiers can also produce small barriers around themselfs to protect them or use telekenisis, and in rare cases other powers such as cloud lighting or a bost to their physical skills, to fight better. Conflicts Axis Order - Bench Press Empire First Contact War (2221 - 2226) Enlightened Covenant Crussade (2282-2317) FFC-EC Escalation (2314-2316) Covenant Civil War I (2318-2324) ' '''Covenant Civil War II (2334-2339) ' '''Prikitiki-Ti Containment Effort (2356-2398) Schlong Assmilation Campaign (2366-2369) Teachers Entete Liberation War (2396-2411) Hot War (2410-2423) Escalation War (2470 - 2488) Tom Containment Conflict (2488 - 2493) Second Escalation War (2506 - 2509) The Core War (2525-2555) Sixth Cycle (2555-2608) Various smaller skirmishes and operations Worlds Notable Axis Cultist Prophet Jerenum Holy King Avalor Grand Admiral Kazuma "Reaper" Gallahan Clain, BA-246 Minister of Naval Affairs Zermon Matros Grand Admiral someone important, saviour of man, masterchief "demon shepheard